The latest "doctor" to be nabbed had every possible alphabet after his name - MBBS Biochem, MD, DIAAMS, DMALT - all of them issued by a fake medical council.

Not just private sector doctors, at least two government doctors have been arrested too.

Kolkata: Six fake doctors have been arrested in West Bengal in the last one month. A seventh person was arrested for selling fake MBBS certificates. According to latest reports, large quantities of fake medicines too have been seized in Hooghly district.

The latest "doctor" to be nabbed is Ram Shankar Singh from Howrah district who had every possible alphabet after his name - MBBS Biochem, MD, DIAAMS, DMALT - all of them issued by a fake medical council. He was arrested on Monday.

Singh's chamber was in nearly-rural Bauri. Ajay Tewari, arrested on June 2 and a B.Com pass, passed himself off as a gastroenterologist for 20 years at Kothari Medical Centre in Kolkata's upscale Alipore.

The Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police is questioning hospital authorities about how they overlooked the fraud for so long.

Belle Vue, another top Kolkata clinic, had a fake of its own. Allergy specialist Naren Pandey. When arrested, he claimed he had Yunani degrees. But even that, according to sources, is a lie.

Trinamool legislator and chief of the West Bengal Medical Council who also represents West Bengal in the Medical Council of India, said, "Naren Pandey was with Belle Vue since 2003. They are all socially well connected. This Ajay Tewari knew many police officers and bureaucrats too."

Dr Majhi has issued an appeal to the public that if anyone has any doubts about the qualifications he or she is seeing, they should inform the Medical Council in writing.

Not just private sector doctors, at least two government doctors have been arrested too. In fact, the first arrest, Kaiser Alam, was an employee of Kolkata's private Ruby Hospital. He later joined the government and was arrested from north Bengal.

That's not the end of the tale. Barasat's Ramesh Chandra Baidya, arrested on May 23, didn't pretend to be a doctor. He sold fake certificates, 560 in recent times, for lakhs of rupees. His fees varied with the client's profile.

For an extra Rs 10,000, he would even provide a 'gold medalist' certificate.

The arrest of fake doctors has left patients in a lurch. Rani Sarkar of Howrah, whose mother is admitted with diabetic complications at a Howrah nursing home, is at a loss. "Since last week, the doctor's phone is unavailable. He has disappeared and the nursing home refuses to take any responsibility."

Nursing home staff say the "doctor" in question, Shubhendu Bhattacharya, had shown his certificates to the authorities. They seemed genuine.

The Criminal investigation Department of West Bengal police is still probing how this fake "Dr" Bhattacharya got an award from President Pranab Mukherjee himself. A photograph shows him receiving an award.

The CID began probing the entire fake doctor case three months after complaints reached the West Bengal Medical Council and the government, in which Mamata Banerjee is health minister, gave it the go ahead.